maritime academies - final report and annexes_template ec_0.pdf

May 2016

Maritime Affairs

Study supporting a possible

network of maritime training

academies and institutes in the

Mediterranean Sea basin

Final Report

EASME / DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

Table of contents

3

Study supporting a possible network of maritime training academies and institutes in the Mediterranean Sea basin

Abstract 2

Executive summary 3

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Background to the project 1

1.2 Purpose of this study 3

1.3 Methods and approach to the study 4

1.4 About this report 7

2 Overview of the maritime education and training offer and existing cooperation 1

2.1 Maritime Education and Training offer in the Mediterranean 1

2.1.1 Form, type and level of education and training 1

2.1.2 Relevant sectorial activities related to maritime education and training 6

2.1.3 Actors involved in the provision of maritime education and training 11

2.2 Cooperation in maritime education and training in the Mediterranean 13

2.2.1 Levels and types of cooperation between institutions 13

2.2.2 Geographic dimension 15

2.3 Stakeholders perspectives results from the survey 20

2.3.1 Is there a mismatch between offer of skills and demand? 22

2.3.2 Benefits and barriers 23

3 Synthesis of Field investigations 25

3.1 VET On Board Marinate the nautical training offer in Barcelona 25

3.1.1 Context 25

3.1.2 Profile of Participants 25

3.1.3 Needs and Challenges 25

3.1.4 Rationale for Cooperation 26

3.1.5 How to make it work? 27

3.1.6 Conclusions and lessons learnt 30

3.2 A recent initiative from Malta: Malta Marittima 31

3.2.1 Context 31






3.3 Blue Career Centre for the Eastern Mediterranean 36

3.3.1 Context 36




3.3.5 How to make it work 40


3.4 Skills for Blue Biotechnology and Aquaculture 43

4


3.4.1 Context 43






3.5 Exploring education and training cooperation opportunities in navigation safety 49

3.5.1 Context 49






4 Conclusions and recommendations: a Passage Plan 57

4.1 Key findings from the study 57

4.2 A 'Passage Plan' for maritime education and training in the Mediterranean sea basin 60

4.2.1 Principles for future action 60

4.2.2 A Passage Plan for EU, international and national policy makers 62

4.2.3 A Passage Plan for maritime education & training practitioners 66

Annexes 69-201

1


LEGAL NOTICE

This document has been prepared for the European Commission however it reflects the views

only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be

made of the information contained therein.

More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://www.europa.eu).

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2016

ISBN 978-92-9202-205-1

DOI: 10.2826/28018

European Union, 2016

Printed in Belgium

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2

Study supporting a possible network of maritime training academies and institutes in the Mediterranean sea basin

Abstract

This study aims to provide policy makers with an assessment of the feasibility, added value

and available options for promoting cooperation between institutions providing education

and training for marine and maritime professions. An overall 355 educational and training

institutes have been mapped across 21 Mediterranean countries, both in higher education

and in VET. The maritime education and training offer appears rather fragmented and

traditional and does not fully match the requirements of tomorrows Blue Economy. The

cooperation landscape consists of both project-based as well as structural initiatives, with a

focus more so on higher education than on VET. Despite the many barriers identified, a

strong interest in cooperation and integration exists amongst practitioners as has been

confirmed during five focus group sessions and one validation workshop held in Athens,

Barcelona, Genova, Larnaca, Rome and Valletta. The research and subsequent exchanges

have led to a Passage Plan, consisting of principles for action, and recommendations both

for policy makers and practitioners. Most strategic is the recommendation to establish a

Forum for Maritime Education and Training in the Mediterranean, and to make use of the

Union for the Mediterranean Framework to host this initiative. Another ten recommendations

are made for practitioners who wish to engage in such cooperation.

3


Executive summary

Background and aim of the study

Building on the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP)1, the Blue Growth strategy

2 is designed to provide

policy makers at EU and sea basin level with a comprehensive, robust and consistent analysis of

possible future policy options to support smart, sustainable and inclusive growth from the oceans,

seas and coasts. In this context, the supply of a skilled workforce and the related education and

training are key in order to maximise the potential of the Blue Economy.

The Declaration for the Promotion of the Blue Economy in the Mediterranean region of the

Ministries and other Heads of Delegation, who gathered in November 2015 under the Union for the

Mediterranean banner3 stressed the need for the Mediterranean region to make the best use of the

potential of the Blue Economy, to promote growth, jobs and investments. They also highlighted the

skills mismatch of the labour force, as well as the slow uptake of clustering and networking, while

concluding that regional cooperation and networking are necessary to deal with these challenges.

Against this background, this study aims to provide policy makers with an assessment of the

feasibility, added value and available options for setting in motion and/or reinforcing one or more

(international) networks between institutions and organisations providing education and training for

the needs of marine and maritime professions.

Maritime education and training in the Mediterranean: a very complex and fragmented

landscape

According to our own mapping analysis, the number of educational and training institutions located

in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea is 3554, and they are located in a range of 21

Mediterranean countries. A total of 40% of the mapped organisations focuses on only one Maritime

Economic Activity, while the remaining 60% deliver education to more than one MEA. The focus in

education and training in the maritime sector seems to be on the traditional sectors and seafarers,

and less so on on-shore subjects. At the off-shore side one sees a very strong sense of pride within

the workforce, along with strong international regulations and standards. In some cases these

standards prevent institutions to innovate and expand beyond the traditional disciplines.

The mapping exercise and the subsequent research has demonstrated the complexity of maritime

education and training in this area due to:

The variety of maritime economic sectors involved, such as (nautical and coastal) tourism,

maritime engineering (shipping, ports, energy sector), coast guard and security (including

monitoring) as well as life sciences required for advancing aquaculture, fisheries and

biotechnology;

The geographic diversity and big distances across this large-scale sea basin; the distance

between Gibraltar in the west to Beirut in the east exceeds that from Gibraltar to Denmark;

1 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee

and the Committee of the Regions, An Integrated Maritime Policy for the European Union, COM(2007) 575 final, 10.10.2007. 2 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee

and the Committee of the Regions, Blue Growth opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth, COM(2012) 494 final, 13.9.2012.

3 http://ufmsecretariat.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2015-11-17-declaration-on-blue-economy_en.pdf

4 Organisations for which it was not possible to determine the MEA were excluded

4


The differences between EU and non-EU countries, not only in terms of socio-economic

development but also in the means and feasibility of traveling (e.g. visa requirements) and

formal and informal recognition of skills and qualifications;

The coverage of both higher as well as vocational education systems, both of which are

different in terms of set-up and remit;

The number and diversity of institutions involved; varying from mainstream universities and

dedicated maritime academies to sectoral organisations and employers organisations, public

authorities, ministries, employment agencies, etc. that provide education as part of their

activities;

The national specificity of educational systems, including the differences between public and

private sector involvement

5


Cooperation is more focused on higher education VET is less covered

Existing international networks are mainly active at the higher end of education, with VET hardly

being present. Higher education institutes (universities) tend to have a strong international network

that focuses on new topics. However their prime focus for cooperation often lies more in research

than on education: offering training courses is not their key focus. This inhibits transfer of

knowledge and innovation to enterprises.

Networks or more stable institutional cooperation are also mapped and examples involving a wide

array of themes can be evidenced in the Mediterranean sea basin, involving mainly higher

education entities (with very few VET providers).

Although most of the training offer concerns VET, the international cooperation in VET is not as

strong as in higher education which is more internationalised already. There are multiple reasons

for this, and the fact that skills and qualification recognition is more advanced in the higher

education (the Bologna process) is certainly one of them.

A number of training institutions have a strong international network and some provide training as

part of global training initiatives following international standards. Private institutions are often

better capable to cooperate with enterprises. Also the prime focus on certification and traditional

skills may inhibit innovation.

Maritime education and training is expensive due to high capital costs

Overall, maritime education and training involves high capital costs required for the necessary

infrastructure including teaching materials, training simulators, laboratories, vessels, etc. The

financing structure for the sector is vulnerable. Longer term investments are needed as the current

training offer is often outdated and not following pace with the technological developments in the

sector. Cooperation offers concrete opportunities for economies of scale, sharing and pooling of

resources.

Nevertheless, a strong interest in cooperation and integration exists

Despite the complexity, the interest in cooperation amongst Mediterranean maritime education and

training providers appears strong. A wide range of similarities, synergies, challenges and concerns

has been identified, and confirmed the willingness of stakeholders to cooperate on overcoming

these. The strong interest in cooperation was confirmed by the willingness and ability of five

organisations in the region to co-host the focus groups, and to do so at high professional standards.

It has also been confirmed by the strong interest from participants to join such focus groups

despite long travel distances and time investments required. This can be considered an important

indicator for the feasibility of any follow-up activity.

Cooperation efforts are complicated by a number of issues

Efforts to cooperate in maritime education and training are often faced with a range of barriers, of a

structural and/or practical nature:

Variation in the national characteristics of maritime education and training, including its public

or private nature;

Mutual recognition of qualifications. Maritime education systems responds to a national system

of academic job titles and academic reconnaissance. For example, a person that studies in the

UK will be granted with a British academic title that will not be recognised in France, whereas

in France, North African titles are more recognised as they are more or less similar to the

French system;

6


Insufficient capitalisation on past experiences. For example, choice of a wrong cooperation

framework and underestimation of the sustainability issue;

Lack of understanding and interest in the maritime sector among mainstream institutions and

education organisations;

Financial barriers which do not allow the continuation of cooperation unless new funding

schemes are made available; difficulties in ensuring the continuation of project-based networks

of collaboration in the long-term.

Weak cooperation between North and South parts of the basin

From our analyses of existing education networks it is clear that the linkages between educational

institutions with the countries on the opposite side of the Mediterranean sea basin are still weak and

in many cases non-existent. Many obstacles exist also in terms of admission of students and visa

requirements. There is a need for specific programmes that foster mobility with third countries in

education and research, as well as common methods for the recognition of qualifications in the

maritime sector. This requires full confidence in the capacities, employability and performance of

workers from across the sea basin.

Feasibility of promising existing and emerging bottom-up initiatives has been explored

This project has identified and assessed various existing and emerging initiatives and acted as a

facilitator in their further development and visibility. Existing initiatives that have been highlighted

were VET On Board (Marinate the nautical training offer, emerging from the focus group in

Barcelona, Spain) the Malta Maritime Forum and Malta Marittima, based on the focus group in

Valletta, Malta). New initiatives that have been actively facilitated are the Blue Career Centre for the

Eastern Mediterranean (based on the focus group in Larnaca, Cyprus) and the Blue Biotechnology

& Aquaculture Postgraduate Course for the Central-East Mediterranean basin, based on the focus

group in Athens, Greece.

A Passage Plan principles for action

Based on the analysis to date, and taking into account the experiences gained with maritime

education and training cooperation in the Mediterranean, a number of principles can be formulated

which serve as guidance for future action by all stakeholders:

Principle 1: A need to increase attractiveness, modernisation and innovation as the needs of

the maritime sector are rapidly evolving;

Principle 2: Cooperation according to the triple helix is needed - both educationan/training

institues, government and the private sector are required;

Principle 3: Think global and act local - apply international standards and practice nearby;

Principle 4: Capitalise on existing or past experiences - and learn from what has worked and

not;

Principle 5: Establish sustainable forms of cooperation right from the start cooperation

requires trust to be built up which is more than stop and go.

Recommendations for EU, international and national policy makers

Building on the above principles, a number of recommendations are made to EU, international and

national policy makers:

Recommendation 1: Establish a Forum for Maritime Education and Training in the

Mediterranean which acts as a flexible umbrella;

Recommendation 2: Utilise the Union for the Mediterranean Framework now that is has been

mandated through the Declaration on the Blue Economy;

7


Recommendation 3: Build on existing cooperation from the Mediterranean and beyond; Good

initiatives deserve recognition and acknowledgement especially North-South cooperation;

Recommendation 4: Promote the visibility and take-up of existing programmes, initiatives and

funds; dare to put in the spotlight those initiatives which deserve to be shared across the sea

basin and beyond;

Recommendation 5: Tailor mainstream programmes, funds and initiatives to the maritime

education and training needs in the Mediterranean - especially as many funds are not open to

non-Member States, or where Mediterannean actors are not well placed to compete with EU-

wide competition.

Recommendations for maritime education and training professionals

Complementary to the above-mentioned recommendations for policy makers, the following

recommendations are made for practitioners:

Recommendation 1: Align quality standards across the Mediterranean; as there is a need to

earn credits in education;

Recommendation 2: Target real needs that are future-oriented and that respond to real

challenges and problems;

Recommendation 3: Carefully establish the right framework conditions take the time to build

up the trust and to do so step-by-step;

Recommendation 4: Pool resources make joint use of expensive equipment, such as

maritime simulators or training ships;

Recommendation 5: Build on experiences gained take into account lessons learnt from

previous initiatives and do not re-invent wheels;

Recommendation 6: Engage with the private sector as they know best what the labour

market requires, and as it helps to create job opportunities;

Recommendation 7: Develop Blue Career initiatives that promote overall awareness and

attractiveness of maritime professions to youngsters;

Recommendation 8: Create joint programmes and summer schools summer schools are a

good starting point, and from there move to joint Bachelors or Master programmes;

Recommendation 9: Explore E-learning opportunities especially as the costs for covering

travel distances across the sea-basin are high, and as E-learning offers opportunities to take

part in training outside the Mediterranean;

Recommendation 10: Marinate existing VET curricula make use of existing and established

VET training offers, but ensure that it is adapted to the specificities of the marine environment.

1


1 Introduction

1.1 Background to the project

Building on the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP)6, the Blue Growth strategy

7 is designed to provide

policy makers at EU and sea basin level with a comprehensive, robust and consistent analysis of

possible future policy options to support smart, sustainable and inclusive growth from the oceans,

seas and coasts. In this context, the supply of a skilled workforce and the related education and

training are key in order to maximise the potential of the Blue Economy.

Recent studies8 reveal a heterogeneous and unclear picture as far as qualification and training

systems are concerned. In the case of port workers, for instance, the data collected proved to an

extent incomplete, ambiguous and/or inconsistent, while the promotion of employment for seafarers

and fishermen represents a first important step for the Mediterranean countries. The same applies

for other marine and maritime jobs, demonstrating a clear need for enhancing the

status/attractiveness of these careers, by supporting skills development and adapting and

promoting education and training in maritime activities. This is for instance the case for priorities

relating to business growth, such as access to finance for marine aquaculture and tourism,

processing for activities related to the use of marine resources (fisheries, marine aquaculture and

biotechnologies), marketing and communication for fish and seafood products and for innovative

high-quality tourist offer, or technology transfer (e.g. traceability in the food industry, fuel efficiency,

eco-tourism, desalination, etc.), among others.

As highlighted in the FEMIP Conference held in April 2013, "networking across training institutes

may be conducive to improved career attractiveness through better matching of training offers to

the needs of the sector and more harmonised training approaches in the region". This concept was

also stressed by the European Investment Bank9, according to which the creation of a

Mediterranean Academic Network could be a first domain leading to short-term results in a path

towards the enhancement of regional cooperation through the creation of structured working

relations and networks linking stakeholders in the Mediterranean coastal countries.

More recently, new momentum has been given to maritime education and training in the

Mediterranean through the Declaration for the Promotion of the Blue Economy in the Mediterranean

region of the Ministries and other Heads of Delegation, who gathered in November 2015 under the

Union for the Mediterranean banner10

. Ministers and national representatives of the 40 member

countries stressed the need for the Mediterranean region to make the best use of the potential of

the Blue Economy, to promote growth, jobs and investments. They also highlighted the skills

mismatch of the labour force, as well as the slow uptake of clustering and networking, while

concluding that regional cooperation and networking are necessary to deal with these challenges.

6 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee

and the Committee of the Regions, An Integrated Maritime Policy for the European Union, COM(2007) 575 final, 10.10.2007. 7 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee

and the Committee of the Regions, Blue Growth opportunities for marine and maritime sustainable growth, COM(2012) 494 final, 13.9.2012.

8 http://www.marleanet.com/arch/anx/Marleanet_presskit_GB_6_july_2011.pdf

9 Feasibility Study for the Mediterranean Sea Maritime Development Cooperation,

http://www.eib.org/attachments/country/femip_study_maritime_cooperation_en.pdf 10

http://ufmsecretariat.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2015-11-17-declaration-on-blue-economy_en.pdf

2


DG MARE has succeeded in introducing Blue Growth as a single category in EU research

programmes, in EU programmes dealing with territorial cooperation and in programmes dealing

with non-EU countries (IPA or ENPI)11

. Other initiatives such as ERASMUS+, ESF-funded projects,

Horizon 2020 and twinning projects are reference tools and frameworks to address the need for

skills in the maritime economic sectors.

Nevertheless, further progress is needed in terms of education and training cooperation. The 2012

European Maritime Day conference highlighted the need to strengthen relations between maritime

businesses and the training sector in order to ensure competency and education aligned with

business needs. A fragmented view of the maritime business sector by universities and training

centres was identified and increased cooperation between and specialisation of educational

institutions was recommended. The outcome of the project was the recognition of the need to

develop and improve training, education and attractiveness of maritime professions.

It is therefore of great importance to foster the professional profiles in the marine and maritime

sectors through an efficient and effective education and training provision and schemes.

Cooperation between the providers as well as industry professionals from different countries and

sectors could represent a possible response to this heterogeneity.

The relationship between the educational and training infrastructure and the Blue Economy is key in

this process. It is characterised by a number of interactions and exchanges between the skills

supply and demand sides. These can generate virtuous effects in terms of the Blue Economy and

jobs creation, as represented in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1 Network of maritime education and training organisations: analytical framework

Source: Ecorys

11 Support activities for the development of maritime clusters in the Mediterranean and Black Sea areas.

3


At the supply side, maritime education and training institutes are providers of skilled staff for the

Blue Economy. In addition, Blue Economy companies also ensure learning opportunities for

students through for example apprenticeships or internal training.

In order to stimulate economic growth, education and training providers need to ensure the

knowledge and skills that support the sector. This is not easy, since the demand from the economy

and labour market can change rapidly, while education and training institutions need a long time to

adjust. Curricula and testing systems have a long life cycle: changing a curriculum or developing a

new programme can take years. Cooperation between maritime education and training institutes,

as well as with companies operating in the field of the Blue Economy, can increase this flexibility

and adaptability of curricula and thus ensure a higher relevance of the educational offer for the

labour market. At the same time this cooperation can feed new ideas and knowledge into

companies, promoting the quality of training and education to meet the industrys needs and

improving networking among different types of actors.

More specifically, strengthening the supply side of skills and knowledge provision in the marine and

maritime sectors can have a number of potential benefits, such as:

Networking and partnerships can strengthen the overall performance in terms of skilled staff,

apprenticeship opportunities and innovation, ensuring effective remedies to skill shortages;

Networking of maritime education and training providers can improve efficiency, in terms of

knowledge sharing, economies of scale and access to funding opportunities;

Cooperation with leading educational institutes can strengthen the network and promote

internationalisations initiatives, e.g. increase the hub function and centres of excellence;

Networks of providers can influence the national and European funding priorities when it

comes to education and training;

Stronger cooperation through education and training networks can contribute to increase the

attractiveness of the sea basin and to better position it in a broader context (i.e. Europe, and

globally);

Networks among different types of actors, including local governments, can bring increased

innovation and modernisation of the education and training offer, to ultimately allow for an

adaptation of the workforce to the needs of the maritime industry.

Therefore, supporting the provision of education and training relevant to the marine and maritime

professions appears to be key for the Blue Economy.

1.2 Purpose of this study

This study aims to provide policy makers with an assessment of the feasibility, added value and

available options for setting in motion and/or reinforcing one or more (international) networks

between institutions and organisations providing education and training for the needs of marine and

maritime professions.

In order to realise this aim, the study:

Gives a comprehensive overview of the institutes providing education and training related to

the marine and maritime professions in the Mediterranean, as well as of the existing and

potential cooperation and networks between them and with other relevant actors outside the

Mediterranean;

4


Analyses the existing marine and maritime education and training offer in the Mediterranean

and its relevance to the enhancement of employability and competitiveness of the main

maritime and marine sectors in the region, identifying possible gaps in terms of education and

training supply with respect to the professional profiles required in those sectors both from a

geographic and a sectoral angle;

Brings together local stakeholders to discuss issues regarding the marine and maritime

education and training offer at an institution, network and sector level;

Develops a good understanding of the main challenges, opportunities and added value related

to the creation or enforcement of networks between maritime education and training institutes,

taking into account existing initiatives;

Assesses the possible implementation of education and training networks in, across and

beyond the Mediterranean region and for the relevant maritime sectors;

Increases the visibility of marine and maritime vocational and professional education and

training in the Mediterranean and raise awareness on their relevance to the Blue Economy in

the Mediterranean region;

Identifies the drivers to be strengthened, barriers to be removed, and scope of the actions to

be supported for the promotion and/or reinforcement of such networks; and

Develops a strategy or roadmap for creating and/or reinforcing such network(s) at a cross-

national and cross-sectoral level , including operational guidelines for creating, reinforcing and

supporting the functioning of a network or networks between the providers of vocational and

professional education and training, and the identification of complementary activities to

promote a qualified and skilled labour force in the maritime domain.

1.3 Methods and approach to the study

For all tasks, our approach has been inspired by the principles of targeting, combination of top-

down and bottom-up, innovation, connectivity and visibility. As a starting point, we mapped and

classified existing institutes and organisations providing marine and maritime vocational and

professional education and training as well as existing formal and informal networks and co-

operation frameworks. Much information was already available in a number of sources, such as the

databases of EU and international initiatives and programmes (i.e. Horizon2020 research

programme, European Territorial Cooperation), existing reports and databases published and

monitored by relevant institutions (i.e. CEDEFOP, ETF), outputs of international projects (for

instance, funded through the 7th Framework Programme).

The approach adopted to carry out the mapping was twofold: a so called top-down approach was

followed to systematise already available information in order to take the most of the already

available researches and information, to ensure efficiency and effectiveness as well as to identify

the possible information gaps in this fragmented landscape. In this context, we identified relevant

public and open access databases related to education and training, public and open access

databases related maritime institutions as well as EU databases.

As only a fraction of these linkages are relevant for the maritime sector, a bottom-up

complementary mapping phase was carried out by local experts on the ground through focused

research at national level to fill the information gaps deriving from the previous steps. This activity

also included the identification of key maritime education and training actors, as well as regional

and national governments.

5


While both approaches used in the mapping have resulted in an overall inventory of relevant

vocational and professional education and training organisations as well as of their international

networks, they have helped creating a considerably rich database of stakeholders contact details

which were later used for consulting with stakeholders on the ground across the whole sea basin.

The stakeholder consultation phase consisted of a survey followed by targeted interviews. It was

aimed at further testing preliminary results, collect information to assess which Maritime Economic

Activities could best benefit from the promotion and/or reinforcement of networks and identify the

benefits, bottlenecks and added value of networking. As a result, the project team positioned

education and training cooperation according to the Maritime Economic Activities. Moreover, the

identification of which maritime sectors and activities would benefit from the promotion and/or

reinforcement of cooperation/networks formed the basis to develop a topic list for focus groups and

a selection of potential hot spots.

The field investigations (consisting of focus groups and case studies) form the bridge between the

research tasks and the formulation of the roadmap. The interactive nature of focus groups served

as feedback on past analysis, helped identify those themes and issues that are worth analysing in

the case studies and enabled the identification of the necessary qualitative information for the

identification of the potential benefits and bottlenecks of maritime education & training cooperation

in the Mediterranean.

The preparation of the focus groups has been aligned to the general objectives of the study and,

in particular, as well as to the need for confronting the two main points stated by the European

Commission:

Make really obvious the link of the focus groups with specific maritime activities (sectorial

approach);

Involve territories and institutions (also) from the southern Mediterranean sea basin

(geographical approach).

The focus group selection has been based on the comprehensive analysis of the actors and

networks that were mapped under task 1 of the study, as well as on the feedback and ideas

collected from stakeholders through the survey and the targeted interviews.

With all the above, the following selection criteria for the focus groups have been applied:

1) Geographical balance across sub-sea basin;

2) A mix of traditional and emerging Maritime Economic Activities;

3) Networks and cooperation: attention was paid to both existing networks as well as new

initiatives;

4) Type of actors.

Finally, an important factor has been the willingness and ability of local organisations to act as co-

host for the focus group. Such willingness and ability has been considered an important indicator

for the feasibility of any follow-up activity. The integral focus group reports have been included in

the separate Annex report (Annex 7).

6


Table 1-1 Overview of Focus Groups

Location Geographical

balance

Maritime Economic

Activities

Topics Target groups (Networks/type

of actors)

Barcelona West Nautical

tourism/cruise/yachti

ng

The role of

maritime clusters

as to promote

synergies in the

maritime

education and

training offer

Catalan Maritime Forum, private

sector, regional universities

(World Tourism Organisation)

Malta Central Tourism/shipping Addressing skills

gaps

University of Malta, EuroMed

Permanent University Forum,

Malta College of Arts, Science

and Technology, National

Commission for Further and

Higher Education, Empl and Tr.

Corporation, Chamber of

Commerce, Employers

Association

Larnaca East Shipping/Offshore

energy

International

cooperation in

maritime training

and integrated

approaches

Maritime Institute for East Med,

Arab Academy for Science,

Technology & Mar. Transport,

Piraeus-based actors

Athens East/Adriatic-

Ionian

Aquaculture and

Blue Biotechnology

Building Skills for

Blue

Biotechnology

and Aquaculture

National & Kapodistrian

University of Athens - Higher

education providers in the area of

life sciences from Eastern

Mediterranean and Adriatic-

Ionian region

Genoa West Maritime security

and safety

Exploring

cooperation

opportunities in

the areas of

security and

safety

University of Genoa, Coast Guard

Safety and Security Training

center, Merchant Navy

The five case studies aimed at providing ideas and initiatives for addressing some of the

challenges raised during the focus groups. In this sense, they include guidelines for the

establishment and reinforcement and functioning of several networks of maritime training and

education in the region that have been identified. These case studies have both a prospective and

retrospective character: they include relevant experiences and lessons from other initiatives and

incorporate these in the initiatives discussed.

7


The choice of the case studies has been made in conjunction with key participants from the focus

group, with the aim to elaborate the ideas presented. These key participants have also made

available background material; additional interviews and exchanges have taken place, and the draft

case study has been reviewed by focus group representatives as well12

. Due to this bottom-up

research process, the formats, length and scope of the case studies vary (See separate Annex

report, Annex 8).

Shortly after the development of case studies, around 23 experts, stakeholders and policy makers

from the Mediterranean, as well as representatives of relevant education and training maritime

network organisations gathered in Rome in a validation workshop to fine-tune findings, exchange

best practices and develop emerging recommendations and future actions of a Passage Plan for

maritime education and training in the Mediterranean. In addition to a limited number of EC

representatives and core team members, key participants to previously held focus groups were

invited together with a few new stakeholders whose opinions and views were considered relevant

for the effective finalisation of the study (the minutes of the meeting can be found in Annex 9 of this

report)

Fruitful interactions and exchanges have constituted the basis for validating principles for future

action included in the Passage Plan. These have been developed so to serve both as operational

guidelines for stakeholders on the ground, as well as policy recommendations for the European

Commission and relevant international organisations.

1.4 About this report

This Report is structured as follows:

Chapter 2 provides the validated findings from the background research, including a

comprehensive mapping of the institutes and existing networks and their analysis.

These findings have been subject of validation in the 5 focus groups that were held in

the period November 2015- January 2016 and corrected afterwards

Chapter 3 provides a synthesis of field investigations in Barcelona (Spain), Valletta (Malta),

Larnaca (Cyprus), Athens (Greece) and Genoa (Italy), as well as subsequent follow-on

case study research and a number of promising initiatives:

Chapter 4 provides conclusions and recommendations and does so in the form of a Passage plan

for both policy makers as well as practitioners. Taken together, they provide a basis for

support towards existing and future maritime education and training initiatives in the

Mediterranean. The conclusions and recommendations are based on a validation

workshop with experts, stakeholders and policy makers held in Rome on 22nd

April

2016).

A separate Annex report has been prepared bundling the full results of the mapping, survey as well

as the integral focus group reports, case studies and the minutes of the validation workshop held in

Rome on 22nd

April 2016.

12

At the time of writing, a number of comments are still pending. They will be processed in the subsequent deliverables.

1


2 Overview of the maritime education and training offer and existing cooperation

2.1 Maritime Education and Training offer in the Mediterranean

2.1.1 Form, type and level of education and training

In the context of this study, the main types of learning provision to be analysed are:

Vocational education and training (VET)13

referring to a learning process of education and

training aiming at equipping people with knowledge, know-how, skills and/or competences

required in particular occupations or more broadly on the labour market. Special attention will

be paid to the accredited VET programmes that are officially recognised and approved by the

relevant legislative or professional authorities following assessment against predetermined

standards;

Higher education corresponding to all types of courses of study, or sets of courses of study,

training or training for research at the post-secondary level which are recognised by the

relevant national authorities of a participating country as belonging to its higher education

system14

.

Since the education systems vary widely amongst countries, there is a need to use a standard

classification to identify the type and levels of education provided by institutions.

As regards the levels of education provided by institutions, existing classifications of educational

institutions as described in the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED)15

constitute the reference to define different education levels. Mapping tables exist for most countries

in the world that clearly link the national systems to international ISCED standards16

. The European

Tertiary Education Register (ETER) also uses ISCED (5 until 8).

It is important to note that this standard classification is mainly used by policy makers and central

agencies collecting data about schools. However, it is not a common language that educational

institutions use in their marketing, or public presentation. Therefore in many cases we had to

estimate the level of education provided based on the information that is publicly available. In the

survey results, the institutions were specifically asked to rate their levels.

Results from mapping existing institutions

Based on the mapping of institutions offering maritime and marine related programmes we

identified a total amount of educational and training institutions located in countries bordering the

Mediterranean Sea is 355. The main type of education provided by educational institutions consists

of vocational education and training (VET) followed by higher education. The educational

institutions are mostly recognised as VETs (46%) and higher education is mostly provided by

universities (37%). The other types of institutions consist mainly of private or public authorities.

13

CEDEFOP,Terminology of european education and training policy - Second edition (2014) http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/publications-and-resources/publications/4117

14 http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus_mundus/tools/glossary_en.php

15 Developed by the United Nations, this is the most commonly used classification system (also by Eurostat)

16 http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/ISCEDMappings/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/publications-and-resources/publications/4117http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus_mundus/tools/glossary_en.phphttp://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/ISCEDMappings/Pages/default.aspx

2


Table 2-1 Types of education provided

Type of institutions Type of education

VET 167 VET 182

University 131 Higher education 142

Private authority 19 Secondary education 10

Public authority 12 VET & Higher education 12

High school 8 Other 8

Universities providing VET 7 No information available 1

Research centres 4

College 3

Academy 1

Educational organisation 1

NGO 1

No information available 1

Total 355 Total 355

Figure 2-1 Type of education provided by educational and training institutions

Educational institutions provide different levels of education. ISCED 6 is the level of education most

provided, followed by ISCED 3 and ISCED 7. ISCED 6 is provided by 142 educational institutions,

ISCED 3 by 120 educational institutions and ISCED 7 by 111 educational institutions. ISCED 1 and

9 are the least provided both only by three educational institutions.

Table 2-2 Levels of education provided (overall mapping)

Level of education provided Percentage

ISCED 3 21

ISCED 4 11

ISCED 5 11

ISCED 6 25

ISCED 7 19

ISCED 8 11

3


Figure 2-2 Distribution of mapped organisations by level of education

Results from the survey

Although the number of respondents of the survey (N=62) is lower than that of the mapping, the

results can be considered more reliable since education institutions indicated the levels offered

themselves. Nevertheless, the survey results confirm the pattern of the mapping exercise.

Table 2-3 Levels of education provided (survey sample, n=62)

Level Number Percentage

ISCED 3 2 3

ISCED 4 2 3

ISCED 5 9 15

ISCED 6 17 27

ISCED 7 14 23

ISCED 8 12 19

No specific level 6 10

Total 62 100

A total of 42% of the institutions responding to the survey are dedicated to offering education/

training for the marine and maritime sector. Almost half of the institutions offer some courses/

training aimed at the sector. A small percentage indicated that they offer generic courses that could

be relevant for the maritime sector.

Table 2-4 Education and training course offers related and/or applicable to the marine and maritime sectors

(n=64)

Percentage

Our entire faculty/ institution is specialised in education/ training for the marine and maritime

sector

42

We offer some courses/training aimed at the marine and maritime sector 45

We offer generic courses that could be relevant for the maritime sector 3

We currently do not offer courses/training aimed at the maritime sector 3

A combination of the above 2

Other 5

Total 100

4


The number of students enrolled varies widely amongst the institutions: some have a very small

number of students (less than 20), whilst 40% indicate that more that 100 students are enrolled.

Table 2-5 Number of students enrolled in these courses (n=55)

Number of students Percentage

< 20 18

21-50 24

51-100 18

101-1000 38

1001-20000 2

Total 100

The mapping table (Annex 1) includes a short description of the types of programmes offered,

shows a wide variety of topics covered by the educational institutions. Table 2-6 shows the main

focus of courses offered. Maritime transport is one of the key topics, followed by coastal protection

(38%), environmental monitoring (38%) and offshore oil and gas (25%). Other offshore

development as well as renewable energy is offered by 23% of the institutes surveyed, followed by

fisheries (21%), shipbuilding (19%) and yachting & marinas (19%).

Table 2-6 Main focus and/or target of education/ training courses (multiple response) (n=53)

Main focus and/ or target of education/ training course(s) %

Maritime transport (including port facilities) Deep-sea shipping: International (freight) transport

by sea with large vessels or medium sized ships

55

Coastal protection - Protection against flooding and erosion, preventing salt water intrusion,

protection of habitats.

38

Environmental monitoring - Marine environmental monitoring is not a clear-cut function. It may

cover water quality, temperature, pollution, fisheries etc.

38

Offshore oil and gas - Extraction of liquid fossil fuels from offshore sources 25

Offshore development and exploitation of a variety of renewable energy sources excluding

wind, including wave energy, tidal energy, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, Blue energy

(osmosis) and biomass.

23

Catching fish for human consumption (including processing) - Extracting wild natural resources 21

Shipbuilding - This sector includes building of ships and floating structures, building of

pleasure and sporting boats and

19

Yachting and marinas - This activity is strongly interlinked with coastal tourism. It can be

defined as coastal tourism in

19

Marine aquatic products - Farming of aquatic organisms, mainly for human consumption

(mainly fish and molluscs)

17

Coastal tourism - Shore based sea related tourist and recreational activities. 17

Construction of water projects - This sector includes the construction of waterways, harbour

and river works

15

Offshore wind - Construction of wind parks in marine waters, and exploitation of wind energy

by generating electricity off

15

Cruise tourism (including port facilities) - Tourism based on people travelling by cruise ship,

having the ship itself as

13

Surveillance - Equipment and services used for security purposes in the field of maritime

transportation; surveillance of

11

Catching fish for animal feeding (including processing) - Extracting wild natural resources

(essentially fish) for animal consumption. The final product is mainly fishmeal and fish oil,

which can be used by agriculture and aquaculture. This sector also includes fish processing,

wholesale and retail.

9

5


Main focus and/ or target of education/ training course(s) %

Blue biotechnology - Using wild and farmed aquatic living resources as precursors of bio-

molecules used for high value products (health, cosmetics, etc.). It is about unravelling the

potential of the biodiversity of a specific earth compartment for the benefit of the rest of the

economy.

9

Marine minerals mining (deep-sea mining) Deep sea mining of raw materials other than

aggregates, including critical materials which have a risk of supply shortage.

8

Agriculture on saline soils - Development of agriculture on saline soils, through improving

existing crops or adapting salt tolerant plants.

4

Carbon capture and storage - Caption of CO2 at large emitters and ship these to empty

offshore fields and other favourable geological formations for long term storage as a means to

contribute to sustainability targets.

2

Aggregates mining (e.g. sand, gravel) - Extraction of marine aggregates (sands and gravels)

from the seabed.

2

Securing fresh water supply - Desalination of sea water for fresh water usage (agriculture

irrigation, consumer & commercial use).

2

Other 21

Other topics covered that are mentioned are:

Data analytics over Aquaculture processes;

Deep-sea ecosystem exploration, Marine Protected Areas;

Hydrography;

Marine biology (conservation, genetics, perturbations, ...), Cycles of elements, role of ocean in

climate, marine ecosystems functioning;

Marine education for deck officers leading to certificate of competence for Deck Officer of the

Watch (OOW);

Maritime Spatial Planning;

Seafarers training (Chief Engineers, Master Mariners, OOW, ...);

Security;

Surveys for mapping, oceanography, meteorology.

Highlights from interviews

The interviews served as an additional source, to deepen understanding on how education and

training institutions identify the topics and curricula to be developed and offered. As the

interviewees work at a variety of institutions and in different contexts, it is challenging to draw

conclusions which are valuable for all at this stage. To illustrate the findings from the interviews, we

highlight a number of findings below.

Focus on international cooperation should be part of education systems - The Catalan

Maritime Forum, an organisation related to the Barcelona Boating Industry Cluster, stressed the

importance of international cooperation for education. One of the main needs for the sector is the

performance of English and other languages. The problem is that Member States still work as

archipelagos, centred in their education systems instead of thinking in excellence and

international terms.

Recognition of qualifications can further increase cooperation - The French Ministry of

Ecology pointed to the issue that maritime education systems respond to a national system of

academic job titles and academic recognition. For example, a person that studies in the United

Kingdom will be granted with a British academic title that might not necessarily be recognised in

France. In France, North African titles are likely to be more recognised as they have been

6


developed using the French system as a basis. Nevertheless, there is rarely any collaboration

occurring between African and French authorities when it comes to education projects. There is a

need to create a clear recognition system that links the different academic titles displayed by

different national education institutions. This fact limits exchange of students and the improvement

of collaboration between organisations.

Several advantages of maritime cooperation - The Maritime Department of the Italian Ministry of

Transport points to the following advantages of a collaboration at the international level among

relevant ministries: 1) Coherence in the provision of similar competences which would allow to

significantly reduce unfair competition in the area of education and training; 2) Similar and

equivalent degrees to ensure homogenous education and training; 3) The cross-border recognition

of certificates and, thus, the free movement of seafarers across countries. In Italy, for instance, a

seafarer needs to hold a navigation certificate to be able to work as well as a series of proven

qualifications.

Several ideas for topics emerged - Most interviewees had a clear idea on topics that could be

further developed as part of curricula in the marine and maritime sector. New innovative fields

should be developed, for example in the field of food and dietetics, to develop cuisine of some

maritime species that are usually thrown away. Also new activities in the field of fisheries

management could be developed. Fish processing companies should understand that the best

refrigerator is the sea, and introduce more resource management concepts. Other topics mentioned

were:

Sustainable marine environment management;

Ship repair and maintenance: electronic mechanics, IT systems;

Protected fisheries.

2.1.2 Relevant sectorial activities related to maritime education and training

For the purpose of this study, a sectorial approach was adopted to identify the main maritime fields

in which maritime educational providers operate. Maritime Economic Activities have been grouped

according to the following categories:

Table 2-7 Grouping of Maritime Economic Activities

Categories

I. 1. Maritime transport is aggregated.

Sub-codes

1.1 Deep-sea shipping

1.2 Short-sea shipping

1.3 Passenger ferry services

1.4 Inland waterway transport

are considered jointly, meaning that by assumption all sub-activities are executed

II. 2.1 Catching fish for human consumption and 2.2 Catching fish for animal feeding

are jointly considered as one category (Catching fish). Therefore by assumption all sub-activities are

executed

III. 2.3 Marine aquatic products and 2.5 Agriculture on saline soils are jointly considered as one category

(Aquaculture). Sub-codes are not considered separately. Therefore by assumption all sub-activities

are executed (all cells are ticked with an X)

IV. 3.5 Aggregates mining and 3.6 Marine minerals mining are jointly considered as one category

(Mining). Sub-codes are not considered separately. Therefore by assumption all sub-activities are

executed (all cells are ticked with an X)

V. 6.1 Surveillance and 6.2 Environmental monitoring are jointly considered as one category (category 6 is

aggregated). Sub-codes considered jointly. Therefore by assumption all sub-activities are executed

7


Categories

VI. A new category "Other" has been introduced. It is composed by 2 sub-categories:

7.1 Maritime engineering;

7.2 Marine research.

Based on the results of our mapping, the relevant Maritime Economic Activities17

have been

classified as follows:

Table 2-8 Classification of Maritime Economic Activities

Maritime Economic Activities

0. Shipbuilding Shipbuilding

Construction of water projects

1. Maritime transport Deep-sea shipping, Short-sea shipping, Passenger ferry services,

Inland waterway transport

2. Food, nutrition, health and eco-

system services

Catching fish (for human consumption and animal feeding)

Aquaculture

Blue biotechnology

3. Energy and raw materials Offshore oil and gas

Offshore wind

Ocean renewable energy

Carbon capture and storage

Mining

Securing fresh water supply (desalination)

4. Leisure, working and living Coastal tourism

Yachting and marinas

Cruise tourism

5. Coastal protection Coastal protection

6. Maritime monitoring and

surveillance

Environmental monitoring and surveillance

7. Other Maritime engineering

Marine biology

According to the mapping analysis, the number of organisations engaged in education related to at

least one Maritime Economic Activity in the Mediterranean is 35518

, and they are located in a range

of 21 Mediterranean countries. A total of 40% of the mapped organisations focuses on education

targeting only one Maritime Economic Activity, while the remaining 60% deliver education relevant

to more than one MEA.

Out of 139 organisations that are specialised in only one economic activity, 35% concentrate their

activity on maritime transport only. Almost a quarter (23%) of institutions operate in the food,

nutrition, health and ecosystem sector. However, within this group, almost half of the total entities

focus on one single sectorial activity (31 organisations out of 69). This result is not surprising since

under this area of specialisation very technical knowledge is often required (e.g. for blue

biotechnology) (see Figure 2-3 and Figure 2-4).

On the other side of the spectrum, the organisations that diversify the most are found in

shipbuilding, coastal protection and maritime monitoring. Indeed, only 5 out of 151 education

providers that operate in maritime monitoring and surveillance focus entirely and uniquely on this

area, whereas only 1 organisation out of 42 operating in coastal protection focuses its activity only

17

The initially proposed classification was slightly modified for the purpose of clarity. An additional category Other has been added based on the mapping results.

18 Organisations for which it was not possible to determine the MEA were excluded

8


on that. This seems to suggest that maritime monitoring and surveillance is rather seen as a cross-

cutting educational topic. Indeed, this conclusion has been confirmed during the exchanges in the

Genoa focus group, where security and safety where also identified as cross-sectorial activities.

Figure 2-3 Number of Maritime Economic Activities covered by education and training provided in the

Mediterranean Sea

Figure 2-4 Sector of specialisation for the organisations covering only one MEA

A total of 27 initiatives fall under the additional category Other. This category has been added in

order to accommodate the existence of a large maritime sector, taken over by universities, which

closely relates to scientific and academic research.

1 MEA 40%

2 MEAS 36%

3 MEAS 19%

4 MEAS 5%

n=347

Maritime transport;

35%

Leisure, working and living; 27%

Food, nutrition,

health and eco-system

services; 23%

Energy and raw

materials; 8%

Maritime monitoring

and surveillance;

4%

Shipbuilding; 3% Coastal

protection; 1%

n=136

9


Half of the total number of organisations (51%) perform some activity related to coastal protection

and maritime monitoring. However, as already outlined in Figure 2-54, very few organisations

entirely focus on these fields. As expected, the majority of training organisations in the

Mediterranean sea basin carry out activities related to maritime transport, in many ways the most

traditional maritime economic activity.

Figure 2-5 Number of trainings in a specific MEA19

Before moving forward to the analysis of individual MEAs, it is important to keep in mind that a

single education provider rarely choses to specialise on one single MEA, i.e. it offers services that

support more than one economic activity. At the same time within one MEA an organisation might

also undertake more than one sub-activity. For instance, the total number of trainings that are

related to the category of Food, nutrition, health and eco-system services is 69, out of which 93%

refer to Catching fish, and 91% carries out at least some activity on Aquaculture. In this case, an

interesting consideration can be presented: many educational organisations do not concentrate on

serving one sub-activity but choose to diversify their range of services.

The same reasoning can be applied to other MEAs, such as Leisure, working and living, and

Shipbuilding. Especially for the first one, the totality of organisations is involved in Yachting and

Marinas and then they are more or less equally split between Coastal tourism and Cruise tourism.

For the category of Energy and raw materials, the case is slightly different: all the organisations

focus entirely on one sub-activity, given the wide diversity of economic tasks that follow under this

category. Around 1/3 of the organisations provide trainings and education on alternative sources of

energy, such as wind and ocean renewable energy.

19

It is important to take into account that each organisation can be engaged in more than one MEA. This implies that the actual sum of the organisations per each MEA exceeds the total number of mapped organisation.

Shipbuilding

Maritimetransport

Food,nutrition,

healthand eco-systemservices

Energyand rawmaterials

Leisure,working

andliving

Coastalprotectio

n

Maritimemonitorin

g andsurveilla

nce

Other

MEAs 30 196 69 36 94 42 151 27

0

50

100

150

200

250

n=375

10


Figure 2-6 Number of organisations per segment of MEAs

1. Shipbuilding

2. Food, nutrition, health and eco-system services

3. Energy and raw materials

4. Leisure, working and living

5. Others

0

3

6

9

12

15

18

Shipbuilding Construction of waterprojects

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Catching fish Aquaculture Bluebiotechnology

34%

12%

21%

12%

21%

Offshore oil and gas

Offshore wind

Ocean renewable energy

Mining

Desalination

0

20

40

60

80

100

Coastal tourism Yachting andmarinas

Cruise tourism

Maritime engineeri

g 56%

Marine research

44%

11

2.1.3 Actors involved in the provision of maritime education and training

Different types of actors and organisations can be involved in education and training provision:

public authorities, public and private educational institutions, sectorial organisations and employers

organisations. In some countries, education and training is primarily provided by the State, while in

other countries the private sector plays a key role, with all gradients in between. Since the mixture

of stakeholders involved in the provision of education and training is highly dependent on the

national education system, it will be important to understand the specific nature of these settings

and education systems in each country20

for a correct development of this study. Before defining

the actors to be mapped and the research approach21

, some clarifications are needed.

In the context of this study, a focus is put on institutions that provide education and training,

intended as organisations promoting learning and where individuals learn and develop their skills

through the educational, vocational or work context, for the benefit of themselves, one another and

the whole organisation, with such efforts and effects being publicised and recognised22

. However,

in reality a wide variety of actors and organisations are involved in the ecosystem of maritime

education and training. A first indication is the source of funding for education. The survey results

show that although public funding is the main source of funding, often a combination of private and

public funds exists.

Figure 2-7 Main sources of funding (multiple response) (n=55)

The mapping of institutions and networks also shows a mixture of private and public involvement.

The interviews shed light on the advantages of having multiple actors involved in education and

training.

Private training providers often have closer linkages with industry A private company from

Greece offers a variety of services to the marine and maritime industry, including training

programmes. Although they cooperate with educational institutions, they do not so specifically with

universities since, in their view, they do not focus on professional careers and professionals.

Cooperation with educational institutions is important to raise quality and credibility: it helps

attracting more clients. Traditional education institutions tend to be not very receptive to change,

and should connect more to the shipping companies. Even though some have obligatory

internships as part of their curriculum, there is still a lot which is not covered. Part of the problem is

that all institutions need to adhere to the regulations prescribed by the same national ministry. Also

20

The CEDEFOP country reports, the ETF country profiles and the 40 National Units under the Eurydice network constitute key references for the understanding of the different national contexts and frameworks

21 The CEDEFOP country reports, the ETF country profiles and the 40 National Units under the Eurydice network constitute key references for the understanding of the different national contexts and frameworks

22 CEDEFOP (2014), Ibid.

Sources of funding Percentage

Public funds 67

Private funds 7

Student fees 36

A combination of the above 16

Other 5

Total 100

Public funds

Private funds

Student fees

A combinationof the above

Other

12

international rules on what should be taught in the marine industry can be a barrier to change. A

majority of maritime academies have rigid curricula because of these international agreements.

A private institution in Greece that offers education programmes has a strong link with the

maritime industry. Practitioners from the private sector are hired as lecturers and for the mentoring

of students. Also, innovative programmes are developed and implemented on the basis of the

needs identified within the industry. Students from all over the world attend the Greek private

institutions courses, with 35% of students coming from abroad. There is indeed a strong focus on

ensuring the institutions international visibility while providing training that is relevant to the

business sector. Indeed one of the success criteria is the international curriculum which opens up

interesting professional opportunities.

Researchers tend to be well-connected to international networks but less focused on

provision of education A school of marine sciences in Israel has two international programmes

for graduate students, including joint PhD programmes. Several projects are run in cooperation with

other countries (for example Greece, Germany, Spain, Italy). Internships with companies are not

part of the curriculum, since their focus is on research. There are a lot of connections with other

labs (for example in Bremerhaven) and research groups. The ambition is to set up a network for

active collaboration among 6 to 7 marine stations from the south-eastern and north-western Israeli

region A network is considered very important because a single marine station is not able to

monitor the contamination of drinking water. At the moment Israel is experiencing a high risk of

contamination of drinking water because of the developments in oil and gas, massive production

and poor regulation, little water circulation and risk of war.

A number of networks aimed at modernising education and training exist and can be used to

enhance cooperation The University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Transport and Maritime Transport

focuses its education provision on navigation and maritime engineering. Every year, it hosts around

60 to 70 students. The University is member of MarED, an EU-funded programme which aims at

modernising and harmonising maritime education in Montenegro and Albania. Members of the

network are notably education providers from Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia as well as

Austria, Spain and Romania. The network also includes the participation of a few port authorities,

associations and other public actors. The participation of private sector representatives is limited.

Exchanges occur, however they are not systematic. Further involvement would be welcomed, i.e.

notably to help students find their first job as seafarers.

The project arose in response to the obligations of the partner countries concerning the ratification

and implementation of the latest amendments to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)

regulations related to education and training of seafarers. All necessary changes and harmonisation

aim to meet the prescribed international standards to be carried out by 2017, in order to enable the

educational and training institutions of the partner countries to maintain their status of internationally

recognised maritime educational and training institutions.

Support by a wide variety of actors is required to develop innovative programmes A new

bachelor programme was created in 2009, resulting from a collaboration between the Italian navy

and the University of Bari Aldo Moro. The course in Management of the maritime activities is a

three-years bachelor programme. Classes are conducted in the buildings of the navy and using

navy equipment. The programme follows a twofold objective: from one side, it is aimed at re-

launching the stagnant economic and occupational situation in the region; from the other it keeps

the focus on a sector that is traditionally central to the local economy. The most developed maritime

sector in the region of Taranto is aquaculture: however, no one has ever invested in promoting

specific trainings in any sort of maritime activity.

13

This type of university programme is almost unique in Italy. There are only two similar experiments

already existing: a degree programme in maritime and naval sciences at the University of Livorno,

in collaboration with the naval academy, and a degree in nautical sciences at the University of

Napoli. Before the university course was launched, the programme had already gained consensus

from all the neighbouring regions and the industry associations as well, such as Port Authorities,

ship owners, shippers, maritime agents, fish-farming and aquaculture associations. The maritime

industry warmly welcomed the fact that a university course with practical trainings was introduced.

The degree programme is the result of the collaboration of different departments and it is broken

down in three different professional paths: a technical-operational, a logistics and an environmental

course. This last one is valued as a cutting-edge course and it specialises on Blue Growth, Blue

Economy and sustainable maritime development.

2.2 Cooperation in maritime education and training in the Mediterranean

The ultimate goal for any network or cooperation framework would be to make common action

more effective and efficient. Networking among education and training providers links entities in the

Mediterranean to work on issues of common interest, share good ideas and existing answer to

problems, and develop new solutions, facilitating in many occasions a coordinated, strategic and

common response. Networks and cooperation frameworks allow to work on issues of common

interest, share ideas and existing answers to problems, and develop new solutions related to

various fields and scope of activities. They also represent a concrete opportunity to the

strengthening education providers engagement with local/regional authorities and stakeholders

from civil society.

2.2.1 Levels and types of cooperation between institutions

A wide array of possible common actions

The common actions carried out as part of the cooperation can assume different forms. Below are

some relevant examples identified in the context of the study that need to be taken into account

(non exhaustive list):

Joint development of curricula, teaching materials, methods and modules;

Joint education and training course offer (in-school or distance learning);

Structured exchanges of students, teachers, trainers and administrators in higher-education

and in vocational education and training institutions;

Student mobility, including the development of international framework agreements for

international mobility;

Staff exchange;

Staff education and training;

Common projects funded by public initiatives;

Common projects financed by private funds;

Working groups;

Creation of mechanism for sharing resources to avoid duplication;

Development of common infrastructures and equipment for education and training provision;

Other relevant common actions leading to new tools, products, approaches, projects, etc.

Levels of cooperation and duration: three main types

The common aspect of the mapped cooperation networks responds to the requirements of added

value (cooperation is generating something which could not be achieved by an individual institution)

and tangibility of results (cooperation is generating products, deliverables, tools, frameworks...).

14

A cooperation network is defined as a stable collaboration between at least two learning

organisations (without preventing the participation of other sorts of actors) actively participating in

common education and training actions.

In practice, the levels of cooperation as well as their duration can vary widely, from purely one-to-

one informal relationships to full alliances where institutions offer for example joint degrees or

market their offerings jointly. One key finding is that a lot of initiatives are project-based and bound

in time, while others are more structural. It is important to focus on this dimension as it provides an

indication of sustainability as well. While being open to mapping informal cooperation mechanisms

provided that they respect both criteria of added value and tangibility of results, the study focuses

on more structured cooperation (project-based and institutional cooperation). Pure contracting of

work, where there is no active collaboration, is not regarded as cooperation23

. This being said, it is

acknowledged that structured cooperation often starts with a project-based approach.

From the initial mapping analysis carried out, we can classify the intensity of these linkages in three

broad categories:

Informal cooperation between key staff members and institutions;

Project-based cooperation: cooperation within joint public and private initiatives and (funding)

programmes;

Institutional cooperation based on bilateral/multilateral agreements and/or Memoranda of

Understanding (and cooperation taking place in between networks).

The mapping indicates that most of international cooperation in the fields of education and Maritime

Economic Activities is project-based. As it can be observed in Annex 2, Programmes such as

Erasmus, Socrates or INTERREG provide the financial means and adequate frameworks for

education providers to work together, looking for common solutions to tackle similar programmes.

In this respect, 67 projects have been identified so far.

In parallel to this intense cooperation in the framework of individual projects, the mapping also

shows that a number of different ways of institutional cooperation taking place based on multilateral

agreements and/or Memoranda of Understanding do exist in the Mediterranean sea basin.

The study identifies 27 networks or platforms for cooperation between education providers. Out of

these 27, 13 correspond to what seems to be stable and well established networks of education

entities covering a wide range of thematic areas, not only Maritime Economic Activities. Some of

them have been running for a long period of time and are quite well known, such as for example:

AAU (Association of African Universities);

EUN (Egyptian Universities Network);

EuroMed Permanent University Forum;

CIHEAM (International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies including

fisheries).

14 networks operating in the Mediterranean that have Maritime Economic Activities at the

cornerstone of their activities have been identified. Examples include:

AQUA-TNET the European Thematic Network in the field of aquaculture, fisheries and aquatic

resources management;

MariFuture - European Platform for Maritime Education, Research, and Innovation;

Vasco da Gama Training for Greener and Safer maritime transport project;

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http://glossary.uis.unesco.org/glossary/en/term/2016/en

15

European Coast Guard Functions Forum;

The International Diving School Association.

Some key findings emerge from the realised mapping that deserve to be underlined. Firstly,

networks tend to be formed by higher education providers such as universities or research

institutes, with VET providers quite absent in the mapping of institutional or network-type of

cooperation.

Secondly, VET providers are mapped in many cases as participants in projects, mainly projects co-

funded by Life Long Learning Programmes. This is an important finding as VET providers represent

the bulk of maritime training offer in a number of countries (see section 2.1.3).

Thirdly, networks identified in the context of this mapping exercise are, in most of the cases, theme-

oriented rather than geographically oriented. This means in practice that (international) networks

can function at a range of geographic levels, from those including border countries to sub-sea

basins, the Mediterranean sea basin as a whole, the EU as well as beyond (e.g. extending to North

America, Africa or Asia).

A broad thematic variety

A broad thematic variety Is related to the Maritime Economic Activities and sectors. The thematic

focus and purposes of these networks can vary broadly across different Maritime Economic

Activities or even tackle a variety of cross-sectorial issues (e.g. the use of English as learning tool,

the pooling of resources, addressing common needs, etc..).

Examples include a wide array of thematic topics like, for instance, the Sea Talk Project, with the

Centre for factories in the future (UK)taking the lead and involving MED countries, the connectivity

project Trainma- European Motorw

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